Read the section of the Ball Blue Book “Learning About Canning” before starting.

Assemble all of the equipment you will need, read the recipe through and wash peaches well.

Put 3 pots of water on the stove and start heating.  1) The canning pot with washed and inspected jars 2) a small pot to sterilize the jar lids and rings and 3) a pot of water for blanching the peaches.

While those are warming up prepare a resting place for hot jars.

I used an entire newspaper and two folded dish towels to place hot jars on.

Peel peaches by blanching and then submersing in cool water.

Please see my post Tips and Tricks for Peeling Peaches (Tomatoes).

Once the peel is off cut the peaches in half, remove the pit and scrape off any red fibers. (Red fibers can turn brown over time – especially important if you are canning peach halves but not SUCH a big deal when making jam.) Chop the peaches into a food processor and crush.

You don’t want a super smooth puree but no HUGE chunks either. Add just a tiny amount of “fruit fresh” to keep the crushed peaches from turning brown. Continue until you have 2 quarts of crushed peaches.

Place the 2 quarts of peaches in a large pot as shown above and cook gently for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the spice packet. You can purchase a spice packet but I used a square of sterilized muslin. On the muslin add about 1 teaspoon of whole cloves (the spiky looking spice) , 1/2 teaspoon allspice (round “globes”) and 1 cinnamon stick.

The photo shows more spices than are needed for one batch of jam. Just so you know. 😉

You may have to break the cinnamon stick in half to make a nice little packet.

Bring up the corners of the muslin and wrap the spices inside. Secure with a piece of twine and tie in a double knot.

If you have a lot of excess fabric like I do here you will want to cut it off.

Toss the spice packet into the pot.

Add 6 cups of sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

Slowly bring the peaches up to a boil by raising the heat a little at at time.

You don’t have to stir constantly but you’ll want to stir quite often to keep the peaches from sticking. (This is a good time to start washing up)

Once the peaches begin to boil continue cooking (stirring often) until they reach the gelling point which is described on page 29 of my Ball Blue Book.

Once the peaches reach the gelling point you can remove the spice packet and turn off the heat.

CAREFULLY remove a jar from the hot canner tipping it slightly to let the water run out.

Fill the jars with fruit making sure to leave a 1/4 inch headspace.

I put the jars on a platter to save my counter from spills and to make clean up easier but also to keep the hot jars off the counter.

Place the two piece caps on top of the jar and put them back in the canner.

Continue removing jars, filling and putting them back in until you’ve used up all of the peach jam.

The trick here is to keep the jars hot. Putting hot liquid/jam into cool jars could cause the jars to break. PLUS letting any of the parts of this process cool down may take longer for the filled jars to process.

Process the jars of jam for 15 minutes in boiling water that completely covers the jars by 2-3 inches.

After 15 minutes, remove the jars  and place them in the cooling space you made for them earlier..

One of my favorite sounds is the sound the jars make as the jars seal. *poink*